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2013.05.10 - Wreck Center
Scituate - Wayne Foundation Rec Center This two-story facility is built from a refurbished old paper mill, the large space updated and renovated by a grant from the Wayne Foundation. It features basketball courts, a pool, handball courts, and a tennis court that doubles as a volleyball court. The gym is large enough to accommodate at least four half-court basketball games. There is also a good-sized, professional grade kitchen. The brick walls feature a great deal of positively themed "tag art" that is allowed by the center. Upstairs, there are classrooms for dance and study hall, as well as offices for the administrators. Here, the colors are cooler and more sedate, contrasting with the louder and wilder downstairs. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- A sunny afternoon in Spring. Even in Gotham City, that makes for a good day. Right? Sure, it does. The rec center is busy this afternoon. Schools have let out for the day, which means the after-school programs are starting. That's Barbara Gordon's cue to bug out. It's not that she doesn't like kids. It's that it's easier to swim when you're not competing with them for lane space. Yes. The paraplegic swims. It requires a fancy floatation device for her legs (commonly known as a pool noodle), but it can be done. And has been done. Today, in fact. Gym bag on her lap, damp red hair tied back in a ponytail, she wears a casual ensemble and maneuvers with characteristic deftness through the now crowded corridor just outside the pool area, heading for the main lobby. Jeanne Foucault happened to be doing some swimming of her own, it is after all a good exercise. While swimming, she spotted Barbara but didn't bother her. Now, however, when Barbara is all set to leave the pool, Jeanne more or less followed her, approaching almost out of the blue to say, "I saw you swimming despite your condition, I wanted to say I respect your resolve. How did you attain it, if you don't mind me asking?" Might be a bit rude to strike conversation like this out of the blue sans introductions, but nevertheless, Jeanne does just that, looking quite comfortable despite any potential awkwardness. Her own gym bag is hagning across her shoulder. It wasn't all that often that Jocelyn made the trek all the way out to Gotham. It was a long ways from Westchester, except for when she flies, and with it being a rather sunny day, Jocelyn didn't have the luxary of cloud cover. So, she'd made her way over here the old fashioned way, which mostly involved her feet and the subway system. But, one of her friends had insisted that this would be an interesting place to check out and they'd get a game of basketball in or something. So, Jocelyn is slightly annoyed when she gets a text saying he's busy today and can they reschedule. She shoots back a slightly snarky text before she puts her phone away and enters the building. She's got her duffle bag with her, because that's what you bring to a place like this. Well, she was here. Jocelyn may as well check the place out, see if she can find a pick-up game or something. If not, well, then she'd just end up leaving, no big deal. The tall teenager steps through the doorway and moves a little bit off to the side, just to take the place in. It reminded her of a few places back home. It's been a week. Tim's first day back to school, after everything, even though Dana had said he could take all the time he needed. Like he really wants to spend more time moping around the house. "I'm /fine/, Shelby, really," he says, tennis racket in hand. Rich kids, tennis, it's like peanut butter and jelly. They just go together. If he has to say "I'm fine" one more time today, he's definitely /not/ going to be fine. There's a whole group of Brentwood Academy kids off to one side of the main area, some making a fuss about being here. They're far too posh to be using a rec center, after all, but some C-list villain iced over most of their sports facilities last night and it's still being thawed out. Tim tugs on his shirt sleeve to hide the bandages. Frostbite sucks. A Rec Center. In Gotham. It's not exactly Kate Bishops 'home turf'. heck, it's not really a place she'd normally be found. But well, after how certain things have unfolded both in this city and in new York as of late, she has a small reason to be here. But is she here to exercise? Not exactly. Even if she is wandering in wearing a set of blue sweats and her hair is up in a bandanna, while she's carrying a gym bag. No, she's not here to cause trouble either. Instead, well... If she has to say it, there may be an odd reaction regarding who she has to say she's here to and why, thus it may be best to make it /look/ like she's here to work out. "Uhah..." Barbara blinks at the teen that interrupts her, drawing to an abrupt stop. Yes. It's an unusual lead-in, to be sure. But, it's far more acceptable coming from a kid than it would be an adult. It's also a highly unusual question, its focus being more on the motivation than the actual achievement. Thus, a wry smile touches the woman's lips. "My resolve?" How did she attain that? "Let's just say I had a few good friends to help me re-focus after the accident." That's the politic way of putting it. "That, and I've never been one to give up easily." There's the truth of the matter. Jeanne's being a kid has served her well in the past, as some of the things she tends to say or ask would earn an adult a fist to the face on occasions. Lucky for her, she's been mostly able to avoid fists to the face. A very good thing. "Is that it? Friends can do that?" Jeanne seems genuinely interested as she ponders how one's friends can help retain a focus on living in such circumstance. "An admirable quality, were you born with it? Not giving up?" Unsurprisingly, there isn't anyone in the immediate area that Jocelyn recognizes. She does know Barbara, but the woman is in the corridor between the pool and lobby, and Jocelyn can't see her from this vantage point. The girl who walked in might seem vaguely familiar to Jocelyn, but she doesn't know Kate out of costume. Tim looks kind of out of place here, as this didn't seem like a rich kid's hangout. Him and his preppy buddies. Jocelyn decides to head over to one of the open basketball courts. She grabs a basketball and starts taking some warm-up shots. She's not bad at it, though that's probably not a surprise, if one goes by the stereotype tht all tall kids are good at basketball. Long distance to Tim Drake: Barbara Gordon dreams up a kidnapping plot against one of your classmates... involving gangbangers from the neighbourhood, here, just to liven things up. Well today is a little busy then normal but the staff is pretty good at keeping up with things within the rec center. Moving through the masses of kids and teenagers, the dark skinned, crimson eyed Jynn makes his appearance known as a few of the kids call out to him. A little girl is crying while a few older girls are laughing at her, sighing to himself Jynn listens to the girl then nods his head and calls over the older girls. Explaing to them that any further picking on SUmmer would result in suspenion from the Rec Center. Which the laughing trio quickly apologizes. "Alright Summer go to your class, it should be starting soon." he tells her. Turning down a hall goign towards the main area of the Rec Center, noticing a larger group of kids leaving, a few turn and wave to Jynn who in turns nod his head to them. Hearing more chatter near the pool corridor, HInotori turns down that hall to make sure that it's not too cluttered and as eh does, he notices there is quite a few people. "Alright, lets keep it moving, one of the cleaners is coming down in a few to clean up the floors." he says raising his voice over the others a bit so that he is heard. They're still waiting for the tennis court to free up. Just about everyone in his "group" is complaining about it, but all Tim does is lean back against the wall and try not to fall asleep. Blah blah blah, vigilante, late night, you know the drill. His eyes drift, and there's- give him a moment, he never forgets a face- Karen? No, no, Kate. Bishop. Right. He raises his eyebrows at her. Not that he can really say anything, because he's just as out of place here as she is, isn't he? "Hey, I'll be right back," he says to Shelby, even though it doesn't deter her from continuing to talk, and shoulders his gym bag as he manuevers his way out of the cluster of teens formed around him. "Hey, Kate!" And as Kate wanders, she /almost/ hesitates for a moment as she notices Jocelyn. Or at least notices a /very/ tall girl with that specific shade of red. It's also something to help remind her of why she's here. And what she has to do still. Of course she starts to turn down a hall, unsure if she should check the pools or the basketball courts out first, just passing Jynn when she hears someone calling her name. Which well... That does cause her to stop dead in her tracks. Especially as she glances around, before her gaze finally locks onto... "Tim?!" Yeah. She's a little surprised. "Hey!" Again, Jeanne's question takes Barbara a little off-guard. She peers at the girl for a moment, over the top of her glasses, her smile still wry. "Yeah," she says slowly. "Yeah, I guess I was." Tenacious. She's always been considered tenacious. And opinionated. And, okay, she can be a bit of a know-it-all, too, though she's getting better at channelling that more productively. She gestures down the corridor. "Do you mind if we walk and talk?" Or, roll, in her case. Regardless, her hands fall to her chair wheels and she starts pushing. The kids that wave good-bye to Jynn push through the doors... as a bunch of others push their way in. They're larger fellows, in their early to mid twenties. There's ink on their throats -- the same tat on each of them -- and bandanas tied in various places to display their colours. They pause inside the lobby, looking about expectantly, sweeping the faces of everyone they see with hard gazes. "Oh, of course not, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to keep you," Jeanne says as she turns to walk along Barbara's wheelchair, "it's just I don't often see someone handicapped look as strong as you do. I like that." Jeanne notes, before adding, "I hope I can be like you, if I ever have to face something like this. I guess it's only when such accidents happen that you learn the true spirit of your character." While Jeanne and Barbara head further down the hallway, seemingly just in time to catch a group of tattoo'd youngsters act all though, Jeanne moves away from Barbara, further into the lobby, immediately drawing attention to herself as she calls out, "you guys are here to look tough, or you mean to start trouble? Because there are people here worth dozens of you, and I will have to intervene if you're thinking of trouble." Swish. Swish. Swish. Jocelyn looks out and frowns. She recognized those tats. Lovely. And it looked like some girl a few years younger than Jocelyn was going and drawing attention to herself as their target? Jocelyn tosses the basketball back into the bag it was in and strolls out of the court area. She quietly draws in a little bit of kinetic energy. She's not fully charging herself up. Only her strength a tiny touch and her dexterity a bit. Enough to be at peak condition, but nothing supernaturally tough. She didn't need to give away her abilities here. She spots Barbara at this time, too. Yeah, that was odd, but still, now wasn't the time to dwell on it. Since they hadn't started anything yet, Jocelyn was just going to casually walk into the lobby area where the gang was, and not say anything yet. If something started, or she needed to actually speak up, then she would. But for now, the best thing she could do was just be present. Watchign as people are now starting clear the hall, and Jynn backs away to let Barbara and Jeanne to come out. He nods to them but as he turns around and looks to the main lobby, he notices the older group come in, all with colors and tats, "Fuck." he says as he looks towards them. As they begin scanning the faces of others, an older woman walks out from behind the counter, "Therese, no." Jynn calls to her. Therese looks to Jynn for a moment but knows that she can count on him. He didn't knwo who this group is, but still a few of the other staff moves the kids out of the way who are looking at the men and pointing at their tats. "Can I help you men?" he asks as he looks to the lead guy. His detective sense is definitely going. Yeah, something is definitely Up. Capitalization and everything. Tim puts on a smile as he approaches Kate, but luckily for her, his attention is quickly diverted. And it doesn't even look like he's noticed anything at all, just a quick glance towards the front when he hears the door open, but something in the way he's holding himself shifts, subtly. "Hey, it's been- god, that Wayne Foundation party last year, right?" Even if he didn't spend most nights on the lookout for crime, living in Gotham all his life would've given him enough awareness to know that there's about to be trouble. It's like an itch on the back of his neck that he can't quite scratch. He's already angled his body to give himself a decent view of the front out of the corner of his eye, without being to obvious about it. "How've you been? Has your sister set a date for her wedding yet?" Wayne Foundation? Last year? "That sounds about right." Kate admits with a half smile, if only for a moment. All though with the.... Stuff that appears to be brewing back in the lobby, she does glance over that way and frowns, her grip tightening on the straps of her bag. "It's not even official that they're engaged yet unfortunately. Despite him making it clear that he wants them to get married, Sue is still holding out." All though as she notices that there's others starting to react as well, albeit in limited ways, she just tries not to call on any of her own 'night time' training and experience. At least not until it's absolutely needed. After all, blowing her ID any more than she has is not a good idea, and probably never will be. "Hey! Kid! What are you do-- What? No! Don't..." Barbara leans forward, attempting to grab the fifteen-year-old by her shirttail before she can put herself in the way of trouble, but her fingers catch only air. "Aw, crap..." She pulls her chair up short, just at the mouth of the corridor where it dumps into the lobby. Her eyes scan the scene quickly, looking to see just what the gangsters could possibly be looking for themselves. Anything that stands out. There's not much -- unless you count the Brentwood Academy kids. Wait. Brentwood? Her gaze sweeps across the lobby. Is Tim here? Oh, look. He is. Great. One friendly face, if things go all wahoonie-shaped anytime soon. It doesn't even occur to her that maybe she needs to get out of the way, too. "Outta the way, kid," the gangster Jeanne confront says, completely blowing her off. It's not like she looks like a threat. And her posturing is absurd. Jynn is a bit more of a threat -- but even he doesn't illicit a huge response. "Nope," is the reply the rec worker is given. "We know who we're lookin' for." "Hey, Toro," one of the lesser thugs says to the leader. "That's her. Over there." He points toward the gaggle of Brentwood kids. Toro backhands the guy's shoulder. "Well? What're ya waitin' for?" "Right." Two of the goons start moving forward, toward the rich kids, while their buddies create a pretty good impression of a wall between them and most everyone else -- creating a corridor between the them and the doors. "I'm sorry but I can't just stand here while they're being idiots," Jeanne comments to Barbara as she tries to dissuade her from intervening. But as she tries to shift focus towards herself, Jeanne finds that a proper gang really doesn't give a blip about a 15 year old who thinks she can play at being a hero. Frowning, Jeanne turns to look after the gangster who just blew her off, "just because I'm not as old as you doesn't mean I can't make you stop," Jeanne says, somewhat offended that she's been outright ignored. "You guys better leave this place right now," Jeanne says and goes on to try and force them to pay her some attention, by kicking the shin of one of the thugs forming the wall to block others from the two advancing on the rich kids. Jynn smirks a little bit, but right now with the kids all scattered about and trying to look at whats going on, Jynn speaks up a bit. "Alright everyone move back out of the lobby. My seniors escort the younger kids out of the area please." he says. As Jeanne comes up, he looks to her for a moment. Quirking a brow at Jeanne for a moment, but as one of teh gang members starts to head off towards one of the rich kids, "All of you leave now, and you walking to that kid better stop or get dropped." his voice cold now. He then moves off but stops when Jeanne kicks one of the wall goons. "You may wanna step back." Jynn tells her as he glances to her. "Therese, call the cops now, I will deal with this." he calls to her. Therese a tall African American woman, with long black hair, "Gotcha hun, children get out of this area now!" he calls out and the older kids begin moving the kids out of the lobby including the one the thug is going to. "You know, I'm not exactly sure what you twenty-somethings have to do with some Academy kids, but isn't that a bit beneath you?" Jocelyn responds as she steps forward now, still perfectly calm, as she moves to make her way through the Brentwood Academy kids to try and get in front of the one that the thugs are targeting. "Because the way I see it, you're pretty much outmatched here. I'm sure they've got some tape rolling right now, after all. There are plenty of people here as witnesses, and it sounds like they're calling the cops. And finally, the former professional fighter hasn't had her sparring match today and doesn't like to see uneven fights". Normal teenage boy? Would so totally be crushed by Kate not remembering him. But Tim is aware that it's probably weird that he remembers /her/, considering they spoke for a few minutes at a party a year ago, the kind of party that his dad used to drag him to all the time. So, not too bothered. He does grin wryly and turn his head a little. "Guess I didn't make that much of an impression," he jokes, but then someone is- oh, is that Barbara? Is she investiga- wet hair. Never mind. At least she's here in case stuff goes Down (again with the capitalization). Always good to have backup. Tim does his best not to really look like he's paying attention to the situation until one of the thugs points towards his fellow classmates. "Hey, I have to- sorry," he says, excusing himself as he starts slowing walking back towards the front, phone in hand. Tim Drake can't do much more than call 911, and he doesn't exactly have the superspeed neccessary to pull off the 'change quickly in a phonebooth' trick. He glances over at Babs, eyebrow raised. Never a dull day in Gotham, right? "Actually you did make an impression. A good one. You were probably the only guy there our age who didn't come off as so full of himself and entitled to everything that...." is said before Kate shakes her head. Then though as people start calling for the Brentwood kids to leave, she starts to say, "Tim, you might want to get your... Friends out of here." All though as she does get a closer look at that tall redhead, the female socialite does smile faintly. That is despite the posturing that Jeanne is doing in addition to what Jocelyn is saying and doing. Oh well, if things get a lot worse.... Babs glances to Tim in time to see his brow rise. Her dry smile accompanies an oblique headshrug that more-or-less agrees with him. Never a dull moment. She recognizes Jocelyn as the girl effectively joins Jeanne in the posturing department -- regardless of the truth of her statements. At least she knows the redhead can back up her threats. The fifteen-year-old? Not so much. And then the kid has to go and kick a gangbanger in the shin? Holy adolescent lack of impulse control, Batman! Twisting her wheels smartly, Barbara pulls her chair behind one of those ubiquitous folding tables all rec centers seem to have. When the crap hits the fan, she wants cover to work from. She unzips her bag and slides a hand into it to retrieve Useful Items. "Ow! Hey, you little snot!" The young man Jeanne kicks gives her a rough shove back. "Get the fuck outta the way!" As the others move to interfere with the gang's thus far peaceful (in comparison) attempt to apprehend their target, that crap Barbara was worried about starts flying. Several of the gangsters reach into their coats and pull out weapons. A couple of guns, though many sport saps and knives as well. The ones nearest the Brentwood crowd grab a couple of the kids in the way, putting those weapons against vulnerable spots on their now-hostages bodies. "Uh-uh-uh..." the one says. He points to Shelby. "You. Come with us, and your friends don't get hurt..." "You're mad," Jeanne quips at the thug attempting to shove her roughly, while she simply slips underneath his shoving hands and proceeds to try and direct punch at the family jewels. "You don't think straight when you're mad, so you make mistakes." But then guns get added to the equation, and Jeanne is quick to withdraw. She doesn't want to be the reason some kids got shot, though she does comment, "waw, an entire gang and you're so tough you need guns to pick on kids, bravao gentleman, a new low to the criminal world. Glad I'm not in your gang, because I'd be embarrassed." Now another girl has come up to possibly help, he doesn't know those who are coming up to possibly stop these assholes and honestly Jynn has been doing a good job with keeping the bangers out of her, but now for these people to come into his rec center, just really pisses him off and he's finding it hard to not act first. When one of the bangers attempts to shove one of teh girls, Jynn is about to act when she manages to punch him in the nuts, but now taht weapons are out, it's hard for him to act. But with there being plenty of kids and teenagers here and most with cell phones, calls are possibly already going out to the police. "Put your weapons away and honestly she is right, you gotta pull out weapons and pick on kids way younger then you." shaking his head, "Also look up at the corners of the wall, as well as when you all walked in." he states. Glancing towards Jeanne and Jocelyn, Jynn's eyes narrow, "The police have already been called which is going to make you leaving here quite hard to do and with the other children and staff members getting them out of here." As he spoke, the rec center has cleared out, at least the main lobby and corridors, people have left out through the emergency exits. Well. Guns. That was a problem. But, Jocelyn had an idea. "Hey now, lets not pull out the guns and escalate things here," Jocelyn suggests. She takes up a non-threatening pose, but keeps her eyes on the ones with the guns. Of course, silently she's letting off some tiny thermal pulses on the guns, invisible to the naked eye. The design of these pulses is to not use any kinetic energy, but rather to use thermal energy on the guns to melt the firing pins into place, thereby preventing the guns from being fired. Sort of like a perma-safety for those guns. Jocelyn wasn't going to take any chances with those weapons and try to come forward. She could deal with knives and saps easily enough later, if she had to, but those guns had to be disabled, and this was the best way she knew how to do it. It was like starting the campfire on the X-Men camping trip, except on a very tiny, very specific part of the guns. Right, so: tennis racket, change of clothes. Not much to work with, but Tim's worked with less. He keeps off to the side as things start to escalate, and- oh, great. Guns. Just what this little soiree needed. He's already dialed 911, but keeps his phone at his side. "Yeah," he says, echoing Jocelyn. "Let's just... calm down here, okay? No one needs to get hurt, I'm sure we can figure something out." Need a plan need a plan need a plan. Tim looks like he's almost paralyzed with fear, even throws in a bit of trembling just to make it seem authentic, but his brain is going a thousand miles an hour, trying to figure out what to do. Man, it sure would help if he knew someone was working to neutralize the guns. Slowly Kate manages to move a hand into her bag, and starts to reach for something in it as she eyes the guns. She remaining calm, even as the Brentwood student is grabbed. But still.... Still, as she finds what she's looking for, her cell phone, she tries to pull it out enough to press a few keys. All while watching. And waiting. Because well... There is only so much she can do right now. Guns. Barbara hates guns. Really, really hates them. As the weapons come out, she rolls her chair a little more unobtrusively out of the way. Her upper body strength is pretty formidable, given her situation and decided lack of meta abilities, but even she knows better than to take on a bunch of thugs in the middle of a lobby like this when she can't control the environment. (And, let's face it: Babs is all about control.) Fishing out her own phone -- a suped up little number that gives her access to all sorts of things most smart phones can only dream of -- she starts tapping in to local feeds and redirecting them to various law enforcement channels, just to give them eyes on the inside. As the weapons come out, all hell kinda breaks loose. People start scattering, running in all directions away from the lobby. On the bright side, that opens up space pretty quickly and lessens the chances of any more hostages than are necessary getting caught in the crossfire. The Brentwood kids are kinda screwed, though. It's not like anyone knows what Channel is doing. And, for that matter, given how new micro control over her abilities is, there's no guarantee her melt-the-pins gambit will work. It's a crap shoot, to be sure. The goon Jeanne groins collapses in on himself, understandably. But that only makes his 'brothers' cry out in anger and move to fill his spot. They aim their weapons at her, though they don't try firing just yet. It's clear, though, she's in their sights. Her mocking words aren't nearly as offensive, really, as the cheap shot to the daddy bags. The leader of the thugs sneers at Jynn. "What?" he says. "You think we dunno those are there? Ain't gonna make a difference, buddy. Trust me. Now you and everybody else here just need to back off nice and slowly. Otherwise, the trustfunders get it. All we need to do is pick up the princess, here, for her daddy and we'll be outta your hair. So, back off. You hear me?" He raises his gun and points it directly at Jynn. It's only now, of course, as he says that, that Barbara notes the feeds are on a loop. There's something bigger going down here. She turns to study the faces of the gangsters... and the Brentwood 'princess'. Who are these guys? And why the hell are they so confident? Jeanne may be very skilled in a myriad of skills, and she may fancy herself someone who doesn't make mistakes. Recently she's dabbled in some attempts at heroing here and there, but ultimately, she's truly inexperienced in that realm and very much out of her league when guns are added to the equation. The only solution she can think of at the moment is raising her hands in the air, "oh, come on, now you're going to shot me? I'm fifteen for crying out loud..." Jynn doesn't hate guns, quite skilled in their use, but preferring to use melee weapons more then others. Bringing his hands up, and gesturing for both Jeanne and Jocelyn, "Ladies back off a bit." he says to them both, ignoring the gangers for a moment. He doesn't want them gettign hurt either. He doesn't know them, but the fact that they are willing to step up to help gives them a place on his side. Noting the remarks from the leader about coming to pick up the princess for her father. 'What the hell is going on?' "I can careless of what you think, the cameras aren't going to lie and the fact your pulling out guns on people isn't going to help you." he says as he steps towards the leader who puts the gun up towards his head. "That much of a coward that you need to pull a gun on someone who isn't even armed? Someones who's job it is to make sure that all the kids here big or small are protected at all times from people like you?" he asks. "If your coming to pick up someone, like all adults, you go to the counter and sign them out and have proper identifaction and for the child to know you." a bit of annoyance creep into his voice. "Not a whole gang of you walking up in here scaring the others." Glancing to the girl who they are so called, calling princess, "Do you know him or any of these people?" he asks her then turning his attention back to the leader while waiting on the girls reply. Well, Jocelyn was sure that given enough time, she could melt these things and be sure about it. She could tell the temperature differences, to an extent, but she couldn't be positive, and that was a problem. Unfortunately, Jocelyn just simply didn't have the time right now to perfect it. Maybe she'd bribe Domino to set her up with a test supply sometime. Because Domino would absolutely love that idea. Wrecking guns for SCIENCE! Anyway, with any luck, the gambit will have at least messed some of the guns up. That would have to do. When Jynn orders people to back down for the moment, Jocelyn does, simply keeping quiet and focused. At this point, she was watching for gun triggers to be pulled or anything of that nature, as for something like that, she could at least use her enhanced reflexes to draw the kinetic energy of the shot out and try to keep it from hitting anybody. Really, where was a phone booth when you needed one to change in? At least people start to scatter. That's good. Less potential collateral damage. Tim's glad to have Barbara here, though- aside for her mad hacking skillz that totally deserve the z there at the end, she's a great person to have your back in a fight, chair or no. Not that it looks like they're really going to be able to fight, like this. And he's not so sure talking is going to get any of them out of this, either. Now, in theory a call is placed. One to the members of The Young Allies. If Jocelyn has her phone on her, she'd hear it ringing with a very distinctive ringtone. A ringtone belonging to a certain 'Allies App'. heck, if she has it set up, properly, it may even be the ringtone of a /specific/ member. But she wouldn't be the only one getting that call. Even if odds are few of the others would actually get here in time. Heck, if Babs is still hacked into the YAL app she may even be able to note the signal coming from the phone Kate is using in here. And as that call goes out, the phone that Kate is holding is dropped back into her bag. That is before she does something stupid. Something so insanely stupid that well... Let's just not compare it to anything. Not as she hears what Jynn says, which prompts her to shake her head and reach for something else in her bag. And she pulls out a wallet. "And those Brentwood kids you're trying to grab are all small fry compared to who else is here. But you're too stupid to realize it." is said before she pulls a handful of money, five one hundred dollar bills out, which she just carelessly tosses ahead of her. Yeah, she is sort of banking on numerous things, including Jocelyn being here here, Jeanne being able to back up what she did earlier, and of course Jynn being more than just talk. "My name is Kate Bishop. Of Bishop Publishing, Bishop Industries, and... Well, anything you guys can think of with the name Bishop in it. Now these guys are trust funds, sure? But compared to me...?" The gangsters watching Jeanne snort at her words. Apparently, they don't really care how old she is. But, then again, they're not much over 20 themselves. So, there's not a great difference in their ages. As far as they're concerned, 15 or 50, she's a mouthy bitch that needs to learn her place. They, however, know their place, and so they don't do much more than glower at her, while their leader engages Jynn. There's the sound of sirens in the street, however, drawing nearer. "Hey, Toro," a little guy by the front doors says, "hurry it up, man. Pigs is comin'." The leader, his hand steady as it points at Jynn's forehead gives the rec worker a sharp smile. "This here is all the I-D anybody needs from me." "I don't know them," the girl -- Shelby, in fact, -- says with a shaky voice. She cringes back a little as the two thugs with her classmates move closer, pushing a couple of others out of the way, moving in her (and, incidentally, Tim's) direction. Then, Kate brings out the money. A couple of the guys look shifty back and forth at each other. "Ignore her," Toro growls. "You'll get a lot more than that when this is over. You know that." He glances at Shelby. "C'mon princess. Clock's a-tickin'. You don't walk this way, red-eyes, here, gets it." He means Jynn, of course. "And if you think for a moment, buddy, that you're gonna use any freaky powers on me, forget it. Unless you think you're Superman..." Barbara surreptitiously slides an earbud into one ear, a throat mic now sitting hidden beneath the collar of her top. "Shelby... Brentwood Academy...Tim's class," she murmurs, sitting fairly motionless, even though she's starting to hack into the Academy website to get the student profiles. Jeanne has just learned that these thugs have a mission and they will not allow petty mockery to sway them from it. This sucks, because it means her only real option of intervention is a direction confrontation, and they have guns. People getting shot is never a good idea. So instead she switches to random banter, "so how come you guys are taking her and not me? Or Bishop over there, you know, the girl with the actual cash on hand?" Jeanne looks over at Shelby and then at the thugs, "is it because kidnapping her is the only way you'll ever get to touch a girl?" Jynn's calm continues as he looks at the leader who is holding his gun up at him, but it's when the leader is distracted by his men that are looking at the money that is being waved and flung towards them. That bit of diversion is enough for what Jynn needed and with reactions far faster then that of a normal person, Jynn's hands snake forward fast. Twisting the gun up and around, Jynn quickly attempts to disarm the leader, at the same time he quickly kicks out towards the leaders knee cap hoping to pop it and putting him down. There is a lot at stake and as he is attempting to disarm, Jynn makes sure to switch the guns safety on, to keep the weapon from accidentally firing and hitting anyone else here. The gamble is huge, but he isn't letting them take the girl nor is he going to allow anyone else to be hurt and with most gangs, if you take out the leader it sometimes demoarlizes the others and with teh cops coming as fast as they can all he needs to do is keep their attention. Awesome. Someone doing the superpowered thing that will distract them long enough for Jocelyn to do her thing, or at least she hopes so. She focuses some kinetic energy on the other gun wielders and attempts to drop invisible kinetic bursts right in front of them in an attempt to push them away, particularly separating them from anybody they might be holding. She's using her Stargate FWOOSH version of the bursts in order to try and focus the gang members back. She also attempts to drain any energy coming from the guns to keep them from going off. Maybe the baddies will stumble into some of the melee-weapon wielding friends. Now /that/ takes some balls. Kate Bishop, you've just gained some respect points from Robin. Not easy to do, by the way. He's about to go for his wallet, too, when- well, okay, nevermind. It's officially gone Down. So he chucks his tennis racket at one of the goons holding Shelby and then bumrushes another. Classic football tackle, because he did that for one semester, and he's aiming for 'stupid kid who doesn't know what he's doing' here. At this point, he's just hoping Babs has some hail mary pass in the works. Oracle does usually end up saving the day pretty often. And, this is the moment when things go all wahoonie-shaped, yep. Jynn successfully disarms Toro. The man cries out as his kneecap is crunched by the Afro-Asian meta's foot. Tim's racket hits another thug in the face, sending him reeling backward. His gun should have gone off, but it was one of the pins Jocelyn actually succeeded in melting. The current-boy-wonder-in-disguise manages to take the thug threatening Shelby down. As that thug's gun hits the floor, it discharges with a loud rapport that echoes and sets off a chaotic scramble among the rest of the gang. (Fortunately, the bullet embeds in a wall, not in a body.) As the other gangers make a rush for Jynn or, in some cases, Kate and her money, the room dissolves into a free-for-all. At least one takes a pot-shot at Jeanne (because he can and she annoys the piss outta him). Oracle may be good at saving the day, but Barbara is trying not to get her pretty red head knocked off as thugs without guns join the fray, most of them who aren't scrambling for Kate, the money, or Jeanne, scrambling now for either Toro or Shelby. Shelby Knox. Daughter of Christian Knox, CEO and owner of Knox Enterprises. Not on the same scale as WayneCorp or Stark Industries, but big enough to pay out a handsome ransom, if his daughter were taken. Question is, who'd want to do that to the biocorp mogul? Because, seriously, if the gangers are so sure they can't be touched, and it's so clear to Babs that someone's rigged the Rec Center camera feed to make sure they can't be, then there's someone bigger than a simple gang of thugs interested in a quick payday behind it. Toro rolls on the ground, clutching his knee and hollering at his crew. "Fringer-- auagh! Light it up!" Note: That's not light them up. It's light it up. The little guy by the door pulls something out of his pocket, twists it, and tosses it into the center of the room. Jeanne is too distract by the chaos that suddenly erupts all around, she tries to decide on the best course of action. But this delay proves to her deteriment, because the thugs really don't care and she winds up getting shot. Sure, she still starts to put an acrobatic display by flipping backwards, hoping the bullet will slide just over her, but instead her right side gets grazed and she collapses on the ground like a sack of potatoes, crying in pain. So her first foray into an attempted hero act wasn't the best, good thing there are more than enough people taking care of business around the Rec Center. With teh leader out of it, Jynn quickly gestures for Therese and the other staff members who are still in here to get out. His attention quickly shifting to the man who just shot at Jeanne, moving as fast as he can, he quickly tries to grab the mans gun hand, and twist it hoping to break his hand and disarm him as well. At teh same time flipping the safety on, on the weapon to keep it from firing again. Throwing a knee to the center of the thugs sternum hoping to put him on his ass, "Someone get the girl out of here!" he calls out and points over to where Jeanne went down at. Upon hearing Toro call for light'em up. Jynn didn't knwo what the hell that meant but he knows it's not something thats going to end well for anyone, "GET DOWN!" he shouts out loudly and dropping down to cover Jeanne as she is already on the ground. Well, there was going to be a brawl eventually. Now Jocelyn draws in kinetic energy to enhance her toughness as well, because it could be rather useful here. Moving more quickly than she's shown before, though still within the realm of human possibility, she darts towards Shelby and moves to get into position to defend the girl, letting loose with a roundhouse at a couple of approaching thugs. Her eyes dart towards whatever Fringer had thrown. An explosive or a smoke making device, most likely. Either way, Jocelyn was draining the energy from it to try and keep it from going off, whatever it was. She did have a backup plan if that didn't work, but she really didn't want to have to employ it. Going human shield on the thing would really, really blow her cover pretty hard. Her eyes do dart to Jeanne, but Jynn seems to have that covered, so Jocelyn just tries to keep in front of Shelby at this point, and if that means getting down, that means getting down. "Never a dull day," Tim mumbles to himself as he hauls himself back up to his feet. Tackling someone is a lot more painful when you're not wearing a lot of padding- or in an armored suit. He makes a note not to form a habit. And- is that- no time to think, just act, and Tim does, barely standing before he's down on the ground again. Hopefully taking some of his fellow classmates with him, though they'll probably be a bit bruised because of it. The rest are left to fend for themselves, unfortunately. They're after Shelby. For once, he can't actually find her just by listening for her voice, and that's unsettling. Did he manage to grab her as he went down? And as all hell brakes loose, Kate has little choice. As all hell breaks loose, she dives for cover. Unfortunately, well... She can't do much. Not even as she tries to find something in her bag she cal use. All while trying not to be shot up or worse. The device Fringer throws is... highly unusual. Even as she thrusts herself out of her wheelchair at the cry of 'light it up' -- diving for cover, herself -- Barbara can see it. It's a round sphere, no bigger than a hand grenade, but it looks rather like a silver pokeman ball. Its circumference glows blue as does a depression on its top. The energy that emits from it -- as Jocelyn can see -- isn't at all what might be expected. It's not incendiary. It's an odd combination of electromagnetism, light, sound, dark energy and... zero-point energy? That's probably something Jocelyn hasn't seen before. The sound of it priming is high pitched whine that rises in pitch as it nears detonation. As it explodes, it lets out a percussive sound like a sonic pulse and a burst of light to rival several flashbangs. What's more, thanks to that combination of zero-point and dark energy, the baseball-sized orb has a much higher power signature than it otherwise should. Fact is, Jocelyn's absorption powers are going to be put to the test. Even with all her powers, it's pretty much guaranteed than most people in the area are going down for the count -- even if it's only for a couple of minutes. And unless covered or closed, their eyes and ears are going to be pretty useless for the next few hours. What's more, electronic devices in a one-block radius are all going to short out and quite possibly be demagnetized. But, hey, without Channel there, it could've been a whole lot worse. A few of the thugs, as the grenade primes, throw their jackets over their heads, screwing their eyes shut and clamping over their ears, relying on the personal dampeners that only become evident as having a power source once the grenade remotely activates them, to keep them from numbering among the fallen. Squad cars screech to a stop outside the building as light bursts from the foyer and the grenade discharges in a spectacular explosion of light, sound, and EM energy. Oww. Well. Covering your eyes when you can see energy even with your eyes closes is completely and utterly useless in a situation like this. Unfortunately for Jocelyn, there is simply no hiding that her energy absorption shield flares up into existance with the sheer amount of power that is let loose. Now, with the cameras going to go haywire, that will at least keep her from being identified by the authorities as having a power, but if anyone else manages to watch her through this whole fiasco, they're going to see a blue shield envelope her as she tries to pull in all that energy, but ultimately fails due to the sheer amount of juice being put out. The one thing Jocelyn is able to do, however, is not explode, and instead just passes out with a loud THUD. Possibly right on top of Shelby. Or whoever happens to be nearby. Eyes closed? Yes. Ears covered? Not so much. Tim had been more concerned with covering- whoever it is underneath him, someone from his class. That's what happens when you only have a second or two to react. He hears the whine of the device priming, and then nothing. He's out. Luckily for him, because right after, Jocelyn thuds down on top of him. For 2 minutes give or take Kate Bishop is out. Like a light. For 2 minutes. By the time she wakes up, the police are here and the thugs are gone. Oh yeah, she's gonna be looking into this. By the time any of our heroes start to regain consciousness, the thugs are gone... as is Shelby Knox. The cops are busy evacuating the rest of the rec center and someone's called paramedics for the fallen in the lobby -- paramedics who haven't nearly arrived, yet. Like Tim, Barbara's eyes were well closed. She was blocked by a table and her arms were thrown over her head to protect it. That didn't do much to shield her ears, however, which ring like the Devil himself were on her shoulders calling the ponderosa in for dinner with a supersized triangle bell. She gropes for her phone, laying her hand on it after the third try. It's dead. She grits her teeth to keep from swearing aloud, crosses her arms, and drops her forehead onto her forearms with a discouraged flump. There are half a dozen thugs left unconscious in the lobby, however, including good old Toro. So, the police, and others, will have leads, which is a good thing. Because, apparently... this is far from over. Category:Log